IEA acquires Syracuse China Lithography stones from Lake Editions at Syracuse University

The IEA recently acquired over 160 lithographic stones from Lake Editions of Syracuse University. The majority of the stones are of the highest quality with approximately 75% ranging from “light grey” to the most desired “blue grey” grade densities. The Stones are part of an enormous collection of approximately 2000 that were being stored at a warehouse for many decades. The stones were originally part of the lithographic stones used by Syracuse China to produce decals for their fine porcelain dinnerware. Most of the stones still have images on both sides that still can be printed.

From Wikipedia:
“Later in 1896, the company installed the industry’s first in-house lithographic shop for the “printing of decals.”[2] This made it easy for the decorating department to make inexpensive lithography of hotel and restaurant labels feasible which helped “further the company’s market penetration of the institutional markets.”[1]

[1] “Syracuse and Onondaga China Information and History”. Collectives, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-20.

[2] “The History of Syracuse China”. Syracuse Then and Now, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-15.

[3] “Report on the New York State School of Clay Working and Ceramics” (PDF). Alfred University Yearbook 1927- 28: 155–56. 1928. Retrieved 23 November 2014.

More research will need to be done on what technique was used to create the decals.  As can be seen in the images, color separations of up to 10 colors can be seen on single stones and quite close to each other. This means they must have been printed with a vehicle that the color pigments would have been applied to after printing and then assembled before applying to the dinnerware???  Aodi Liang, IEA’s archive, and research support staff will record each stone’s images before they are ground and used. Some of the stones with special images we will preserve and not use. 

Conversation with Visiting Artists Luftwerk

Tuesday, April 17th, 6:00 pm McGee Sound Studio

This program is brought to you by the National Endowment of the Arts, the Institute for Electronic Arts, the Division of Expanded Media, and the School of Art and Design, NYSCC, at Alfred University. Generous support was received from the Schein–Joseph Endowment and the New York Council on the Arts.

Afterglow at Volume Gallery
2018
Afterglow, at Volume Gallery, 2018

Luftwerk explores light, color, and perception in immersive, experience-based installations. Focused on the context of a site for each project, Luftwerk applies their own interpretive layer, integrating the physical structure, historical context, and embedded information into each piece. Since founding in 2007, Luftwerk has amassed a significant body of work ranging from site-specific installations to experimental projects that interpret data. Light and color are primary elements in work by Luftwerk. Their interest lies in the power of light as a crucial element to sight, exploring its dynamic relationship with the perception of color. Using various modalities—projecting videos, casting shadows, creating a custom sculpture—they integrate light into every project to explore its ephemeral and shifting nature. Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero are the artists of the collaborative team Luftwerk.

IEA artist Elisabeth Pellathy has a new article in Ernest Magazine

Elisabeth Pellathy will be an IEA resident on March 26th-April 1st as part of the Cahaba River Watershed Project. 

Drawing inspiration from 18th-century collectors, Elisabeth Pellathy’s latest work explores themes of conservation and preservation. Recently showcased at the ONCA Gallery in Brighton, Visualised Bird Song explores an innovative method of preserving sounds disappearing from our natural world. Matt Iredale caught up with Elisabeth Pellathy to talk translation.

Visualized Bird Song 3D Print
Visualized Bird Song 3D Print

Cahaba River Watershed Project
A look at the natural environment and human activity.March 26 – April 1st Panel Talk with Artists – March 30th 5:00 – Holmes AuditoriumThe Cahaba River Watershed Project is the collaborative project of printmaker Scott Stephens, new media artist Elisabeth Pellathy, and sculptor Lee Somers. Their week-long residency will explore the use of the laser cutter as an integral part of relief and intaglio print processes. The Cahaba River Watershed Project is an investigation of the natural environment and how it has shaped and is shaped by human activity. The Cahaba River is a 200-mile free owing river in Alabama with some of the greatest biodiversity and scenic beauty in the South. It rises near Birmingham and flows southwest to the Alabama River just south of Selma. As it passes through Montevallo’s Shelby County it is fed by the Little Cahaba watershed that rises in Ebenezer Swamp, an ecological preserve and research center of the University of Montevallo. The three themes of interest around the Cahaba River are the natural environment, the human history, from Civil War to Civil Rights, and its ecological and geological features, containing natural resources that are used for economic activity, especially the coal, limestone, and iron ore mining that was the foundation of the early iron industry in the area. 

Cahaba River Watershed Project

Cahaba River Watershed Project

A look at the natural environment and human activity

Panel Discussion with Scott Stephens, Elisabeth Pellathy, and Lee Somers, March 30th Thursday 5:00pm

Scott Stephens
Printmaker and Professor of Art
University of Montevallo, Alabama

Elisabeth Pellathy 
Artist and Professor of New MediaUniversity of Alabama, Birmingham

Lee Somers 
Artist and Professor of ree Dimensional DesignUniversity of Montevallo, Alabama

First Lasercut Drypoint Prints

Scott Stephens helping Elisabeth Pellathy pull their first proof
Scott and Elisabeth discussing the line quality of the laser-cut drypoint print